I would like to take this opportunity to warn fellow educators of situations one can get into here in the "land of smiles". I have been teaching esl for about 12 yrs. I started out in Japan, and have been teaching here in Thailand for 7 years now. Now the story begins. I first went to work in Chiang Mai in 2000 for a private language school. The school I'm referring to is run by a Singaporean/Chinese man who took over the school from a partner from New Zealand. The school has several locations in CM. To get to the point , the salary starting out was only 180 bt. hr. Quite low even for CM at that time. I took the job just to get started. It was my interview/offer. After a month of teaching and chcking around , I found other work quickly. I was offered a job in the neighboring province of Lampang that paid twice as much , as well as free accomodation. The only thing was I had to start work in one week. I called the boss to inform him of my decison to leave and accept this offer. I began by apologising for giving such short notice. Immediately upon hearing my intentions, he got very nasty. Using crude abusive language, fluent English, he threatened to put me in jail if I left. He was practically screaming abuses through the phone. I hung up on him. The next day, stupidly thinking he would pay me for the hours I had taught that month, I went to collect my salary. I was promptly told to " Get the f### out of my office or you are going to jail!" I was boiling! What criminal offense had I committed. My instincts told me to suck it up and get going. i left and moved on. A couple of yrs later, I was at a seminar at Payap University, when I saw MOD EDIT again. I am not one to forget when someone threatens me like that. I walked up to him and privately aske dhim politely if he remembered me. He snickered at me and said " okay I see you still want a problem with me. You wait right here you son of a b####, I'm going to give you a problem." He got on his phone and I knew right away that I had better go. I walked away and headed for my bike. Just as I entered the parking lot he drove up in his Volvo with his young female office manager, and the police drove up in a pickup. I was told to get in the pickup. I protested and asked to call the American Embassy. I was told that the embassy would not help me because this was Thailand, not America. We went to a small police station outside the city limits. You can imagine what was going through my head at this point. When we arrived I was told that I was being charged with slander. The interpreter even questioning me if I knew the meaning of this word. I said I had not slandered him and that he owed me money. They said they had a witness that i had been verbally abusive and had embarassed this man in public. I was asked to sign a statement written in Thai. They said that I would have to spend one year in jail probably and pay a fine of 20000 bt. Asked to turn over passport at this point, I said it was in my room. Amazingly enough I was told to go get it and come back. I left and went to consulate. I was told by the consulate that this was a matter for the Thai authorities and they gave me a number for the tourist police. have to give credit to the tourist police though. They believed my story but they were also aware that this guy was a "pooyai." ( Part Two coming soon!!!! ) True story, I swear!

went to a small police station outside the city limits. You can imagine what was going through my mind at this point.

Last edited by benandjerry on Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:28 am; edited 2 times in total

New Zealand Education Service (NES) run by MOD EDIT is infamous in Chiang Mai. I know a teacher that was threatened with a gun when he left and came to collect his money. I also know a Thai woman who took him to the labour court because he fired her for no reason, he published a photo of her and a statement implying but not stating that she was fired in a local paper after she won. The guy that runs it has venom running through his veins.

They have a sign outside their school that states they are an IELTS testing centre - rubbish. BC have tried to get him to remove but can't.

He may have friends at a police station who he'll use to intimidate people but I do feel that it's unlikely they would charge you as the next step for them would be to present and prove the evidence to the Chaing Mai Prosecutor. The owner of the now closed EF franchise in Chiang Mai attempted to have criminal defamation charges brought against me, luckily I had Thais who supported me through this and the police didn't charge me. (read my thread on English First EF Chiang Mai).

The best way to protect teachers against people like these is to publicise as much as possible. Hopefully they won't be able to find teachers and eventually they will go out of business - wishful thinking possibly but not much else we can do.

(pt.two begins) He did charge me with defamation and a warrant was issued for my arrest. I found out after I left the country and came back. Apparently he ha s friend high up in CM immigration and they had me flagged on their computer. I was detained in BKK and escorted to CM at my expense. Otherwise I was told that I would have to wait for CM police to come and get me. This case has yet to be resolved. I have a feeling that they are not worried about producing evidence in a court of law.

When I didn't go back to the police station to be booked in they sent a a group of thugs to the school that i was working for at the time. The next morning when one of the new teachers came in to work they pounced on him, put him in cuffs and through him in a civilian car. This was the guys 2nd day in Thailand. They thought he was me. These guys werent wearing uniforms either. When they got him to the station and realized they had the wrong guy, they let him go. Everybody be warned!